Its a common failing amongst re-enactors to concentrate on the archeology from an era and to ignore the history.(I know some re-enactors who could tell you what a late C12th norman wore, ate and fought with, but have never heard of Hugh De Lacy.)Anyway, the idea of this thread is for people to post info on events from history associated with the current date.

To get us started: 24th June 1314 - Battle of Bannockburn. Scots army under Robert the Bruce defeat an english army commanded by Edward II of England thus insuring Scotland remained an independent country (until 1603).

The Battle of Lake TrasimeneOn the 24th of June 217 B.C., the Carthaginian leader Hannibal defeated the Romans under consul Gaius Flaminius at Lake Trasimene. Hannibal was waiting in ambush in the nearby hills and then waited until all the Romans were contained within their own forces. First the Phoenicians caused confusion, and then they slaughtered the Romans. An estimated 15,000 out of 25,000 Romans died.

1870 The birth of Robert Erskine Childers, Irish author and nationalist who resigned as a clerk in the House of Commons to promote Irish Home Rule. He was elected as a Sinn Fein member to the Irish assembly and joined the IRA which eventually led to his arrest and execution for being in possession of unauthorized weapons

The First Crusade was launched in 1096 by Pope Urban II with the dual goals of conquering the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land and freeing the Eastern Christians from Islamic rule. What started as an appeal by Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus for western mercenaries to fight the Seljuk Turks in Anatolia quickly turned into a wholescale Western migration and conquest of territory outside of Europe. Both knights and peasants from many nations of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea towards Jerusalem and captured the city in July 1099, establishing the Kingdom of Jerusalem and other Crusader states. Although these gains lasted for less than two hundred years, the First Crusade was a major turning point in the expansion of Western power, as well as the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The Siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098. The first siege, by the crusaders against the Muslim city, lasted from October 21, 1097, to June 2, 1098. The second siege, against the crusaders who had occupied it, lasted from June 7 to June 28, 1098.

1657Oliver Cromwell appointed Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland.

1857First awards of the Victoria Cross in London at Hyde Park by Queen Victoria.....1st V.C. issued was to an Irishman, C.D. Lucas, Mate Royal Navy later Rear Admiral, from Drumargole, Co. Armagh.* Surgeon General William Manley, Irishman, only person to receive the V.C. (New Zeland, 1864) and the Iron Cross (Franco- Prussian War 1870-71)*